In the field of communications, the need for high-speed transmission of data including video and audio has continued to increase. Moreover, there has been an increase in the selection of services by which users can connect to a network, such as the Internet. Specifically, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may allow for connectivity to the Internet through lower-speed connections at different rates, such as 56 kilobits/second, by employing a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) line. Other choices for connection, which are at higher speeds, into a network can include Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service (both using a POTS line), and cable modem service over a Radio Frequency (RF) cable line.
Typical approaches to network connectivity for certain connection services (including cable modem service) are such that a group of subscribers are pooled together and treated as a single entity (non-channelized media). Such an approach does not allow for individualized accounting and/or usage tracking for different subscribers connecting to the network. In contrast, other techniques (including Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service) do allow for individualized treatment of subscribers (channelized media). Disadvantageously, these techniques require specialized software and/or hardware to be executing on the individual subscriber/client machines to allow for this individualized approach. In particular, DSL service provides for this individualized treatment by using software and/or hardware that allows for the Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) protocol. Accordingly, the costs of such services are increased to account for this additional software and/or hardware.
Clientless Internet Protocol Services (CLIPS) allows for individualized treatment of subscribers over non-channelized media. As a result, various accounting and/or usage tracking such as rate limiting, policing values, access control lists, quality of service (QoS), and accounting can be performed on a per subscriber basis. Moreover, such treatment is independent of the need to install specific hardware and/or software on the client device.
CLIPSv4 is based on Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and services IPv4 traffic. CLIPSv6 is based on DHCPv6 and services IPv6 traffic. Many end user devices are both IPv4 and IPv6 capable and thus can establish both a CLIPSv4 session and a CLIPSv6 session. However, the CLIPSv4 session and CLIPSv6 session exist as separate sessions even though they are servicing the same subscriber.